“Azerbaijan's rich and inimitable culture is a source of pride for all of us. We must protect our culture and cultural heritage. For centuries, our people have preserved their culture, and this has allowed us as a people, as a nation the opportunity to preserve our national and spiritual values and our national identity. For many years, Azerbaijan was denied independence and our people lived in other states. Nevertheless, the determination of our people and their attachment to national roots stopped our people becoming assimilated. Our culture has played a key role in preserving our national identity,” said President Ilham Aliyev as he received in a video format Anar Karimov on his appointment as Minister of Culture.

“It is our native language, the Azerbaijani language that has protected us as a people and as a nation for centuries. It is the duty of all of us to protect the Azerbaijani language. At different times in the past, I have spoken about the protection of the mother tongue. Speaking at the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences and other events, I said that we have a rich language and we can be legitimately proud of it. I think that the Azerbaijani language has a special place among the world languages in terms of its richness,” the head of state noted.

Emphasizing that some words recently introduced into the Azerbaijani language interfere with the purity of our language, President Ilham Aliyev said: “Our language is very rich. I think that the Ministry of Culture, together with other relevant agencies such as the Ministry of Education and the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, should work hard to protect the Azerbaijani language. Various measures are being taken, there are programs, but everyday life shows that we sometimes see the purity of our language being disrupted. I see it in the media, on television, and, of course, this must be stopped. We have preserved our language for centuries, and we must continue to do so. Today, the Azerbaijani language is the mother tongue for more than 50 million people around the world.”